Protective sheath for cows&#39; teats



Jul 22, 1952 Filed July 28, 1949 F. E. BROWN EI'AL PROTECTIVE SHEATH FOR COWS TEATS I ntors: W

Vim 135 July 22, 1952 I F, BR WN r AL 2,604,092

PROTECTIVE SHEATH FOR COWS TEATS Filed July 28, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 V In en r5 wui D J DMG Atlorney Patented July 22, 1952 *U D; TSTATES PA NT? OFF-1 1 7 fi'Tj i momcnvs SHEATH FOR cows TEA'rs' Frederi ck Edwai-d Brown. and Peter Martin,

4 .Hyde, England Application July 28,1949, Serial No. 107,188 In Great Britain August 3, 1948 In spite of advances in veterinary science, large numbers of valuable cows are slaughtered every year as a result of disease of their milking organs. Many of the worst diseases arise from germs or poison, mainly fly-borne, passing up through the teats to the udder.

The applicants have discovered that the toll exacted by suchjdiseases can be very materially reduced by protecting the teats at appropriate times by means of sheathes which cover the milk outlets. I v h To be successful in use and to be acceptable to the farmer, such sheaths must not damage the teats which are delicate organs or cause th cow discomfort; must be capable of being easily placed in position and stripped off and yet remain securely in position in spite of the flabbiness of the teats and the conditions under which a cow lives; must be cheap to manufacture.

The general aim of th invention is to provide a sheath having such qualities.

The preferred form of protective sheath in accordance with the invention is made of a flexible elastic material such as rubber and has a bulbous body portion closed at one end and merg ing into a neck at the other. The inside of the neck is coated with a plurality of adhesive patches which extend over the greater part of the circumference of the neck and which are covered by strips which adhere lightly to'-'the passage and extend beyond the open end of the neck.

Such a sheath has the desir'able "qualities enumerated above as will be clear from the following description of ings in which: I

Figures 1 and 2 show the preferred form of sheath in position on'ateat at different stages in its being fitted in position thereon.

Figure'3 is an elevation, partly i" ing on a larger scale the upper end of the sheath shown in'Fi-gures 1 and "2 and illustrating the manner in which it is used. i

Figure l shows in elevation a manner of stiffening the neck of the sheath shown in Figures 1 and 2. V r

Figure 5 is a sectiontaken on th'ejline V' -V in Figure 4. r

Figure 6 is a section corresponding to Figure 5 of an alternative manner of stifiening the neck and I Figure 7 is a perspectiveviewofa sheath having a neck of polygonal section. r j f r The sheathshown in -Fig ures 1' 3; has a bulbous 1 portion A and a neck '35; .T h eseftwo portions. are joined by a connecting portion'C'whi'chta th accompanying draw-..

n section, show- Claims. (01.128-132) pers at about 45 .to the longitudinal axis of the sheath and provides a smooth transition from one to the other, which isdesirable in order that the sheath maybe easy to mount and may not damage the teat.

The shape and nature of a cows teats are such that there is a tendency forjthe open end of'the neck ofthe sheath to be opened and to rollover with the consequencethat the'sheathslides off. This tendency is counteracted'by the provision of an external bead D atthe 'open end of the neck.

Many experiments made by the applicants have led to the empirical establishment of the followving dimensions which lead to the production of a sheath which is easy to mount, which remains in position for a reasonable length of tim and doesnot lead to irritation or damage of the teat:

Length of neck, about A-% inch. Bead, not more than 1%; inch thick. Thickness of neck, not more than 0.02 inch.

is coated overthe greater partof its circum fer'ence. The patches are covered by Strips G which proceed from the open end of the neck down to the lower edgeof the adhesive patch and up again. They are long enough to project out of the neck as shown in Fig. 3. They are preferably lightly tacked to the neck E so as to retain the position shown on the left hand side of Fig. 3.

When the sheath is to be. used, its neck is expanded and is passed over the teat J into the position. shown in Figifil. When it is inposition, the strips G are pulled upwards and are thus stripped oil the adhesive patchesas indicated in Fig. 3. The sheath is thus caused to adhere to the teat as shown in Fig. Zand the presence of the adhesive does not, in any way, impede the placing in position of the sheath.

It is advantageous for the neck to have that amount of rigidity which will resist its being rolled down. It can, with this object in view, he provided with crimps K as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. Such crimps are easily provided in a sheath made by a dipping processpin the case of a moulded sheath, the crimps' are best replaced b light solid ribs K aSZShOWIl in Fig. 6,v

which the adhesive will adhere less well than it does to rubber so that when they are pulled away, they will be stripped from the adhesive. They should also be thin, smooth and flexible and preferably, substantially inelastic. Good results have been obtained with strips of a plastic of the polyvinyl chloride kind. Thin, strong woven strips having a glazed surface can also be used.

Draughtmans tracing cloth is a suitable material of this kind. I a I It is of advantage to provide ventilationeholes as shown at L in Figs. 1, 2 and 7. Their main purpose is to allow for the escape of air during the fitting of the sheath and also during use when, for example, the air trapped in the-sheath may be subjected to pressure because the cow is lying on a teat or because a-teat of a lying cow is trodden. on. The ventilation holes must, be smallvpreferably'.n'ot'.greater than in; diameter. They are'bestprovidedimmediately below the neck.

Sheaths for generaruse are preferably 'made, by a dipping process, from surgicalrrubber'latex. Synthetic-latex can, however, also be used; indeed, same forms of synthetic rubber have certain advantages overnatural rubber Thus,j;if a Lteat beidamag'edlit is usual'to anoint it with healing e11. g'sii'c'h'oil icauses rubber to deteriorate and 'loseiits 'stretchybut has no such eifect on'syn- 'thetic .rubbersjer Ithebutyl kind which are oilresistant. The sheaths can, however, alsobe made 'bylinouldin'g.

AI'n'aximum thic'knes'soi head of 1 s intat the o'penlend of the neck has been indicated. The actual thickness which is adopted depends'upon the'diam'elter of the neck. The tightness 'of the bead depends upon both'these factors and,there fore, the smaller the diameterof the neck, the smaller will, in "general, ibe'the'thi'cknessof the bead. Withthe smallersizes of sheath, a bead thickness of about 0.03 to 0.04111. gives ver'ysatisfactory'r'e'sults.

.As the solvent. in some adhesives is liable 'to be absorbed by rubbera'nd lose its adhesive power, iitcan be advantageous to provide the'patches in the form 'o'fverythin stripsof oil resisting material lco'ated onfboth isi'des with the, adhesive. 'such a double lcove'red'strip' can be made to adhere strongly to rubberand "to remain adherent theert'o; The exposed layer 'of adhesive, i. e. on the side of the strip remote from the rubber, would then be covered iby'a'protec'tive strip as explained abovep The adhesive whi'chiis to be brought'intocontact with the teat is vthussandwiched between, two non-absorbent materials which will'enable the sheaths 1130136 kept in stock "for long periods without fear of deterioration of theadhesive. u U,

-The necks ofithe sheaths 'shown'in Figs. 1-'6 are cylindrical. 'ltlwill be appreciated that the era plication of the adhesive and 'the'cover strips may,

and generally wil1,ldis'tort the necks so that they 1 do not appear to "be cylindrical "until they are placed in position on the te'ats'. "Ihe term cylindrical is tofbe construed accordingly.

In a modified form Lof theinvention shown in -Fi'gf 7, the neck B is made lpo'ly'gonal in cross fsectio'n'for example, ihe'xago'n'alfor octagonal.

This can be particularl advantageous when the sheaths are 'jrh'ade by dipping as the arrises will forrn stiffening ribs -offthe kind referred to above. 7

eie'ims, V.

;A'eaeaveeeah gee e: aseea plurality of strips each lightly. stuck toand covering a different one of said patcheg and disposed axially of said neck and having a free end beyond that end of the associated patch which is remote from the open end of the sheath.

- 2. A protective sheath of flexible elastic material closed at one end and open at the other,

open end andof 'a length which is small in comparison with that of said body portion, an adhesive coated on the inside of said neck portion .saidpatches.

in the form of a plurality of spacedapart patches extending from said open end, and strips of substantially inexten'sible 'rn'a'teri'al covering said patches 'from' the .edge thereof nearest "to said open end to and beyond -the edge remote from said open end'th'e'iby to,"provide free ends which can be pulled from outsidethe sheath. to uncover "'3. A V protective sheath of flexible elastic mate- .rial closed at one ene and open .at the other,

comprising abodyfportioniextending from said closed end, a neck portion extending 'from'said open, end, .anadhesive coated on the inside of said .neckin the form-of a plurality of spaced apartpat'ches extending away from said open end and over-the greaterpart of the circum ierenceof said 'neek, and aplurality of strips of substantially inextensibl'e Imate'ri alcovering said patchesandIexteridingfrornsaid open end into said neck and backagain-beyond saidopen end, each .of said strips being lightly tacked to itself in the vicinity of said-open end.

4. A protective sheath of flexible elastic material clos-ed at one .end and open'at the other, comprising a :body portionat said closed end, a neck ,portion at said open end of a length which is small'in comparison with that of said bodyportion, an external head at said openend, a connecting portion between said body portion and saidneckportion free from any local constriction, an ,adhesive zcoated on the inside of the sheath in the form of a plurality of patches extending-from-.said open end at least over the 5;, A;protective sheath of flexible elastic mate- Irial closed at one end and open 'at'the other and'oomprising a bulbous body portion extending fromsaid closed end, a-substantially cylindrical 'neck'portion extending from said'open'end and a connecting portion between said body and neckportions providing a smooth transition with no local thickening of the wall of the sheath, said'neckportion being provided with a plurality of external ribs iextendin g from said open end to said connection portion, an adhesive coated on the inside of said neck portion in'th-e form of a plurality of patches extendingover the greater pa t Of hecircumferenee of said neck portion,

a swered 6 Sfi i 2e l h stuck to answe i g e-eifierente eoi aiepatchsand 6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Miller et al. Nov. 18, 1902 Smith Nov. 19, 1912 Weitzner Apr. 30, 1929 Bowman Sept. 19, 1944 Welsh Nov. 2'7, 1945 

